Movie Reviews

Godzilla family values

Michael J. Mazza | Pittsburgh, PA USA | 03/29/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Son of Godzilla," directed by Jun Fukuda, is one of the most fun of the Godzilla movies. In this film, a group of scientists encounter the legendary "King of the Monsters" while conducting weather experiments on a tropical island. When a mysterious egg hatches into a "baby Godzilla," the big monster becomes a reptilian father figure to the playful youngster. A horde of monstrous bugs show up for the traditional monster battles.This "Godzilla" movie seems to be directed towards a younger audience; it is more exciting and funny than scary. The enjoyable antics between "Dad" and baby are enthusiastically portrayed. The film as a whole is well complemented by Masaru Satoh's funky, energetic score. And the monster battles are well done. Although the "silly" quotient of the film may turn off fans of the serious original Godzilla, I think that this sequel should be enjoyed for what it is: an entertaining sci-fi fantasy.The final scenes of "Son of Godzilla" contain some of the most haunting and poetic images ever filmed for a giant monster movie. If you are a fan of the Japanese giant monster genre, you won't want to miss this delightful film."

SON OF G ON DVD!!!! A new version in America!

A. C. Cronvich | Planet Zeist | 11/29/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Columbia/Tristar (SONY) release of SON OF GODZILLA is the "International" version. It is in wide screen. It also has dubbing done in Japan. This is similar to the recent DVD releases of Destroy All Monsters. So it is different from the version most fans grew up with. (The version that had Peter (Speed Racer) Fernandez as the voice of Goro.) The good news is that it is UNCUT and features a 3 min. prologue cut from the american TV version, which features Godzilla frightening coast guard pilots in a tropical storm at sea. Incidently, Tere has always been some confusion over which island is "Monster Island". Well, the original japanese title of Son of Godzilla is "Monster Island's Decisive Battle". So that settles it. Monster Island is Sorgel Island from Son of Godzilla. Im sure this is just a western arguement and every Japanese fan knows Monster Island is Sorgel island."

Great Picture Quality, Re-Dubbed Audio

SC | G-fan | 12/19/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The picture quality is excellent on this DVD but the audio is not the original audio tracksfrom the original released movie. So if you are a Godzilla fan you may be disappointed by the re-dubbing of the monster movie classic. "

TOP NOTCH TREATMENT FOR GOLDEN AGE GODZILLA

Peter Berns | USA | 12/30/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Finally some effort went into bringing the Golden Age of Godzilla (Godzilla, King of the Monsters to Destroy All Monsters)to new life. This DVD release of the 8th in the Godzilla series is full of vibrant color, quality sound, and presented in wide screen format for total viewing enjoyment. This is the original Japanese version with some opening footage that was cut from the American release. It as original Japanese (english sub-titles)and dubbed English (although not the same dubbing as common american release). One truely sad note is that the DVD has no extras to speak of, even if the extra were in Japanese with no sub-titles I'd think they would be worth watching. The story is a simple one, scienists on a remote South Sea island are conducting weather experiments when they come accross a gigantic egg. The egg hatches into a baby godzilla who gets into several scraps with titanic mantis (Gimantis in America / Kamacarus in Japan)and a huge spider god (Speiga in America / Kumonga in Japan) that only the BIG G himself can rescue him from mortal peril. Where does SOG fall into my Golden Age of Godzilla scale?#1 - Godzilla vs the Thing (the best of the series)#2 - Destroy All Monsters#3 - Monster Zero#4 - Godzilla, King of the Monsters#5 - Ghidrah, the Three Headed Monster#6 - Godzilla vs the Sea Monster#7 - Son of Godzilla #8 - King Kong vs Godzilla#9 - Gigantis, The Fire Monster (the worst of the series)

A must for fans of Godzilla and fun family entertainment without computer generated creatures."

Minilla isn't all bad! At least it's better than Barney!

Peter Berns | 11/06/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This movie weighs in as yet another South Seas fantasy yarn. Very low bloodshed, light-hearted subject matter. The locations are great on this film. The acting is good, not spectacular, but both consistent and entertaining. Unlike some of the other Godzilla yarns, the monsters here are very plausible and natural. In the science fiction world, heat and radiation can enlarge just about anything. A few of the Godzilla/Minilla scene to feel more suited for "Barney goes back to his roots" but Minilla makes a good dramatic focus for the film. "Son of Godzilla" reveals another side of Godzilla, that of a parent. This concept seems to hold some favor with the Japanese, as it is repeated through several other films."